Billionaires sentenced to 16 years jail for asbestos crimes

TONY EASTLEY: A court case on behalf of nearly 3,000 asbestos disease sufferers in Europe has been successful, and two of Europe's richest men have been sentenced to jail for criminal negligence.

Stephan Schmidheiny, a former owner of Eternit, a company making fibre cement, and Baron Louis de Cartier, a major shareholder, were both given 16 year prison terms for their roles.

The verdict in an Italian court was greeted with jubilation by anti-asbestos campaigners around the world.

Matt Peacock reports.

MATT PEACOCK: Through a network of subsidiaries and affiliates, Eternit became the largest manufacturer of asbestos cement products in the world. Along with the tremendous fortune the companies generated for their owners came death and disease for thousands of employees, families and neighbours.

The company was founded more than a century ago by a Belgium noble family whose descendent Baron Jean-Louis de Cartier was found guilty today.

Its Swiss offshoot was owned by the Schmidheiny family, whose heir Stephan was also sentenced.

But unlike Australia's James Hardie and the US and British members of the global asbestos cartel, the Eternit companies managed to avoid the sort of litigation that sent many of its competitors bankrupt - until now, that is.

A decade ago a charismatic Italian prosecutor began a criminal investigation that resulted in today's verdict.

EXTRACT FROM COURT PROCEEDING:

(Male voice speaks in Italian)

INTERPRETOR: In the name of the Italian people the Turin court declares Schmidheiny and de Cartier defendants guilty.

MATT PEACOCK: Barry Castleman is a US medical and legal expert who gave evidence for the prosecution.

BARRY CASTLEMAN: It's enormous in that it's holding personally responsible wealthy individuals who were the owners and directors of asbestos enterprises, personally responsible for criminal acts for a wilful, negligent disaster causing thousands of deaths. This has never happened before.

MATT PEACOCK: And how wilful was the cover-up?

BARRY CASTLEMAN: Well, we're talking about stuff that went on long after it was well known in the asbestos industry that asbestos was deadly - mainly stuff that went on in the 1950s and 60s and 70s and 80s.

There's no question that the companies knew about the hazards of asbestos. There were documents back in 1950 showing that Eternit Enterprises and the Schmidheiny family were aware of asbestos being a lethal material, and yet they went on selling these products.

MATT PEACOCK: Neither of the defendants attended the trial.

Lawyers for Stephan Schmidheiny, the founder of the Business Council for Sustainable Development at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, argued that his philanthropy more than made up for any past misdeeds.

They also offered secret multi-million dollar out-of-court settlements to the local government authorities involved, some of which were accepted.

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